My StoryTown

Title: Adam and Eve and The Garden of Eden

Author: Bible – Retold by Marsha Lynn Van Dyke

Illustrations: Marsha Lynn Van Dyke

Audio Sample: [podcast]http://mystorytown.org/heaven/audio/adamAndEve/page1.mp3[/podcast]

  As I was reading Adam and Eve, I came across something that I didn’t really understand.  Perhaps, many of you were unaware of this as well.  It’s in the story after God finds out that Eve was tricked into eating the fruit by the serpent.  God then makes the serpent have to crawl on the ground and not be able to walk upright.  I never knew that snakes ever had legs.  So I did some research.  

This is what I found:  

1) A fossil was found near the village of al-Nammoura of a snake with two legs.  The 85cm-long (33in) creature, known as Eupodophis descouensi, comes from the Late Cretaceous Era, and is about 92 million years old.

2) Primitive snakes, such as, pythons and boa constrictors do have nub-like legs beneath their skin near their bellies.  These “nub-like legs” are actually remnants of an upper-leg bone. 

I’ve always liked knowing neat facts like these.  Do you have any unique facts about snakes or other animals that you would like to share?  If you do, please post them.  

I have a niece and nephew who are absolute geniuses (and I’m not being biased) and I swear every time I’m around them I learn something new.  Kids have the most interesting things to say if you take the time to listen.  So parents talk with your kids, let them give you a lecture on their favorite animal, you just might learn a thing or two.

And of course, take the time to read to your child, so that you can continue learning together.

Thank you,

Marsha Lynn Van Dyke

Title: The Story Of Creation

Author: Bible – Retold by Marsha Lynn Van Dyke

Illustrations: Marsha Lynn Van Dyke

Audio Sample: [podcast]http://mystorytown.org/heaven/audio/creation/page1.mp3[/podcast]

  What do I say about the story of creation?  Well, I guess I would start out by saying “wow, that’s a lot of work!”  I mean I know how difficult it can be trying to figure out what to write about next or how many characters I should put in my next book, but to be that creative, to be able to invent the entire world, that’s pretty talented!!

Can you imagine what it must have been like before there was anything?  I’ve tried to imagine it many times, but I just always end up with a headache.  The human brain, though amazingly perceptive, is unable to comprehend the image of nothingness.  Because nothingness means nothing, natta, zip.  And from the moment we are born until the moment we die we see, hear, taste, touch, and smell “something”.  We can’t picture true emptiness, because in our minds emptiness still has a background color or hue.  My picture always looks grey when I try.  

Perhaps, instead of searching for nothingness we should all focus on the beautiful things that we can see in this world.  We are blessed to live on a planet so vibrant with colors.  Embrace them and enjoy them.  

Here is a link to a site that shows the different era’s of  the “7 wonders of the world” :
Seven Wonders

Please enjoy reading The Story of Creation and please continue to pass along the story so that we never lose sight wonders that were created for us.

Thank you,

Marsha Lynn Van Dyke